Critter Attack

The other day we had a little excitement. We lost the birds for awhile.

Not all the birds, just the turkeys and new hens.

It started out to be a pretty traumatic loss. Hubby went out to check them and found only 8 of the 17 birds. All hiding and huddled in the pen.

We closed up the pen to keep them all in and started looking. We could hear peeping of the birds but we could not see them.

We walked all around the pasture. We found the feathers and remains of one and feared the worst.

We walked around the outside of the pasture and into the weeds that form the border of our property. We kept hearing peeping but we couldn’t find them. Eventually, I decided that must just be the peeping of all the birds in the trees and I gave up.

I walked up towards the house and as I got to the fence, I saw 2 of the birds frantically trying to get into the big chicken coop!! I was so excited!! I grabbed one and passed it to someone else to get back to the pen and chased the other around to the garden.

There I found 2 more birds!!

And another 2 jumped out of the bushes nearby!! YAY!!! We captured them all and put them back into the pen.

What an exciting night!!

I had left #MillietheMule over at our other pasture with Barney to eat that down for a while and give this pasture a rest. Guess who was brought back home quickly that night??!!

She needed to be back on the job! Youngest Daughter has really stepped up and taken over care of them and she helped me bring them home to go back to work here. Of course, Barney is just “Pasture Candy” (heeheheee) but Millie has been doing a great job of keeping any critters away.

Since then, one of the Guinea Hens is missing. I think it got left out of the pen overnight and wandered away.

My brother and I traded. He got 4 turkeys and I got 4 guineas. Our hope is that they will take care of some of the ticks around our properties and therefore keep us and our dogs from getting Lymes.

Oh- and to finish the story of the birds. I had a bowl of scraps for the big chickens leftover from dinner that I ran out to them. I kept hearing the peeping of the turkeys but it was really close. Looking around, I found the 16th bird! Stuck behind the stairs into my coop!!

Honestly I have no idea how that bird got in there, but it did. And it is back with its buddies.

Always interesting when you have lots of kids and animals.

Blessings,

Vicki

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Published by vicki

I am a homeschooling Mom of 9. My husband and I are business owners of 2 auto shops.
My blog is about my life with 9 kids in various stages, from adults to 10 years old and now, grandma. I also write about gardening, our horses and chickens and dogs. I am an aspiring author who has a few projects in the works and hopefully, will have something published in the next year or so.
I hope you enjoy my blog and come back and visit from time to time.
Blessings,
Vicki
View all posts by vicki

Several weeks ago, four of my hens were killed in one night. Strangely, only one was eaten. The other three were killed just for the thrill, it seems. Still not sure which of the many predators we have lurking about did the deed. (We have foxes, coyotes, raccoons, bobcats, opossums, minks, fishers, bears, owls, hawks, and eagles.)

Over the years, I have lost eights ducks to predators. Some have been shredded, one was beheaded and left to rot, and the rest were gone without a trace (other than those tell-tale feathers.)